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Updated February 26, 2024

How to Download PDF From URL in C# (Step-By-Step) Tutorial

Are you wondering how to create a PDF file using a URL or download a PDF file using the C# .NET programming language? This article will discuss how you can do just this using a market-leading .NET library called IronPDF. IronPDF lets you download PDF files and convert any HTML page to a PDF file.

IronPDF

IronPDF is a powerful HTML-to-PDF conversion API. IronPDF offers a comprehensive set of tools for converting HTML sites in the .NET and .NET Core Frameworks. IronPDF allows developers to create, alter, and retrieve PDFs in .NET projects. Using IronPDF, developers can easily produce and manipulate high-fidelity PDFs from HTML pages.

Creating PDF files using IronPDF is easy and efficient, thereby reducing the workload on developers.

To get started with IronPDF, all you need is Visual Studio and C# installed on your system. Follow the steps in this easy step-by-step article to install IronPDF and get started with working with PDFs.

1. Creating a New Project in Visual Studio

Open the Visual Studio IDE.

Go to the File menu in Visual Studio after starting it up. Select "New Project" then Console Application.

In the relevant text box, type the project name and choose the path. Then, click the Create button. Select the required .NET Framework, as in the screenshot below:

Configure the new project

When a new window appears, select the target framework and click on Create.

Select a .NET Framework

The main Program.cs file will now open.

A default C# file is created for the new project

2. Install the IronPDF C# Library

The IronPDF library can be downloaded and installed in many ways, this tutorial targets three simplest approaches:

• Using the Visual Studio NuGet Package Manager
• Using the Visual Studio Command-Line
• Direct Download from the NuGet webpage

2.1. Using the Visual Studio NuGet Package Manager

The NuGet Package Manager option is available in Visual Studio to install the package directly into the solution. The below screenshot shows how to open it.

Navigate to NuGet Package Manager

This opens a search box that displays a list of the package libraries available on NuGet. As shown in the screenshot below, search for the keyword "IronPDF" in the package manager search field.

Search for IronPDF in NuGet Package Manager UI

Select the IronPDF package (first option as shown above) and click Install to add the package to this solution.

Install IronPDF in NuGet Package Manager UI

2.2. Using the Visual Studio Command-Line

In the Visual Studio menu, go to Tools, move the cursor to NuGet Package Manager and click on Package Manager Console.

Navigate to Package Manager Console

Package Manager Console will appear at the bottom of the screen. Just write the following command and press enter, and IronPDF will install.

Install-Package IronPdf

Install IronPDF in Package Manager Console

2.3 Direct Download from the NuGet webpage

The third way is to download the NuGet package directly from the website.

• Navigate to the link "https://www.nuget.org/packages/IronPdf/"
• Select the download package option from the menu on the right-hand side.
• Double-click the downloaded package; it will be installed automatically.
• Now reload the solution and begin using it in the project.

3. Download a PDF from a URL using IronPDF

You can easily download a PDF document from a URL with just a few lines of code using IronPDF. URL to PDF conversion has a lot of applications, such as saving or sending UI designs and record-keeping to name a few. Using IronPDF's URL to PDF file conversion takes just a few seconds, as it uses the world's number one rendering engine to render HTML.

This tutorial will demonstrate IronPDF's precision and efficiency with two different websites that vary in size and complexity.

3.1. Downloading a PDF from the URL of an eCommerce Website

IronPDF can render text images and descriptions of any eCommerce website from a URL with just a few lines of code.

To perform this conversion, copy the URL of your favorite eCommerce website and execute the project with code similar to what's given below.

using IronPdf;

// Instantiate renderer
var renderer = new IronPdf.ChromePdfRenderer();

// Create a PDF from a URL or local file path
var pdf = renderer.RenderUrlAsPdf("https://www.daraz.pk/#hp-flash-sale");

// Export to a file or Stream
pdf.SaveAs("url.pdf");

using IronPdf;

// Instantiate renderer
var renderer = new IronPdf.ChromePdfRenderer();

// Create a PDF from a URL or local file path
var pdf = renderer.RenderUrlAsPdf("https://www.daraz.pk/#hp-flash-sale");

// Export to a file or Stream
pdf.SaveAs("url.pdf");

Imports IronPdf

' Instantiate renderer
Private renderer = New IronPdf.ChromePdfRenderer()

' Create a PDF from a URL or local file path
Private pdf = renderer.RenderUrlAsPdf("https://www.daraz.pk/#hp-flash-sale")

' Export to a file or Stream
pdf.SaveAs("url.pdf")

The output for the given sample is below. Compare this image with how it appears in a web browser:

The output PDF file from a URL

3.2. Downloading a PDF from the URL of a Blog Website

Blog websites have a lot of small details that are important for their UI. Ideally, these details should be preserved when converting blog pages to PDFs.

The next example will present the results of converting a Wikipedia article to PDF.

A Wikipedia article in the web browser

using IronPdf;

// Instantiate renderer
var renderer = new IronPdf.ChromePdfRenderer();

// Create a PDF from a URL or local file path
var pdf = renderer.RenderUrlAsPdf("https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/URL");

// Export to a file or Stream
pdf.SaveAs("url.pdf");

using IronPdf;

// Instantiate renderer
var renderer = new IronPdf.ChromePdfRenderer();

// Create a PDF from a URL or local file path
var pdf = renderer.RenderUrlAsPdf("https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/URL");

// Export to a file or Stream
pdf.SaveAs("url.pdf");

Imports IronPdf

' Instantiate renderer
Private renderer = New IronPdf.ChromePdfRenderer()

' Create a PDF from a URL or local file path
Private pdf = renderer.RenderUrlAsPdf("https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/URL")

' Export to a file or Stream
pdf.SaveAs("url.pdf")

The output PDF file from the Wikipedia article

When creating the PDF of blog pages, internal links should not be broken. PDFs created using IronPDF maintain all links correctly.

4. Conclusion

This tutorial discussed how to create PDFs from URLs using IronPDF. IronPDF makes it very simple to convert HTML from existing URLs to PDF documents. JavaScript, images, forms, and links are all extremely well-supported; the output is almost identical to the original and keeps all formatting and links.

For more examples of using IronPDF, please read this URL to PDF Code Example. To learn more about the features of IronPDF offers, please visit the Features page.

Additionally, some notable features that IronPDF offers:

• Load URLs with custom-network login credentials.
• Encrypting and decrypting PDFs.
• Merging existing PDF files.
• Creating and editing PDF forms.

More information about IronPDF licensing for Free and Commercial projects is available on the Licensing page. Purchase Iron Software's entire suite of five libraries for a deeply discounted price: five libraries for the cost of two libraries.